Now in his 24th season in the big leagues, Tom McCarthy is in the 17th year of his second tour of duty with the Phillies doing television play-by-play. In his first stint with the club, he spent five seasons (2001-05) as the host of the pre- and postgame radio shows, while also doing radio play-by-play. He also hosted his own weekday afternoon-drive show on ESPN Radio 920 AM, which concentrated on local sports. He spent the 2006-07 seasons as a radio broadcaster with the New York Mets on WFAN before returning to the Phillies in November 2007.
A graduate of The College of New Jersey (BA degree in communications), Tom spent six seasons with the Trenton Thunder, the former double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He was hired as director of public and media relations in 1993 and promoted to assistant general manager in 1996, while also working as one of the team’s broadcasters, doing play-by-play on radio and television for CN8.
After the 1999 season, Tom left the Thunder to pursue a full-time career in broadcasting, creating the first local-driven show on ESPN Radio 1680 AM. He also used to work national shows for ESPN Radio.
Tom has done extensive broadcasting for collegiate sports in his career. He currently does NFL games for CBS, baseball for FOX, basketball and college football play-by-play for CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) and NFL and college basketball games for Westwood One, after three years of doing NFL games with Sports USA Radio. Previously, he worked as the radio voice of the Saint Joseph’s University men’s basketball team (2004-09) and the play-by-play voice for Rutgers University football (2001-03), as well as Princeton University football (1995-2000) and men’s basketball (1995-2003).
In 2000, Tom earned a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for his work on CN8 and is a two-time winner (2002 & 2004) of the Achievement in Radio Award for Best Local Sports Coverage. He also received the Radio/TV Excellence Award from the New Jersey Sportswriters Association in January 2007 and the Good Guy Award in 2009. He was inducted into the Trenton Baseball Hall of Fame in the summer of 2011 and had the radio booth at Trenton’s Waterfront Park named after him. Additionally, he was named the 2013 Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and was inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame in June 2019. In March 2022, Tom received the Bob Vetrone Award, which recognizes those whose service, professionalism and commitment have made a lasting contribution to the student-athletes and institutions of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Born in Jersey City, N.J., Tom and his wife Meg live in Allentown, N.J. They have two sons, Patrick and Tommy, and two daughters, Maggie and Kerri. Patrick, a broadcaster for the New York Mets, filled in for his dad for a few games in 2021-22 when he was with triple-A Lehigh Valley.
One of the most popular and colorful players in Phillies history, John Kruk rejoined the club’s broadcast team in January 2017. He had previously been a color analyst for the team in 2003, the final season at Veterans Stadium.
Prior to rejoining the Phillies broadcast team, John spent 13 years with ESPN as both a color commentator on “Sunday Night Baseball” and a studio analyst for “Baseball Tonight.” He also worked for FOX and co-hosted “The Best Damn Sports Show Period.” In 2001, he was a hitting coach for the Phillies’ double-A team in Reading, Pa., before transitioning to a role assisting the club with suite sales for Citizens Bank Park. John also acted in several films, including the baseball-themed movie, The Fan, starring Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes.
John played 10 years in the major leagues, six of them with the Phillies, and was a member of the 1993 National League championship team when he posted career bests with a .316 batting average and a .430 on-base percentage. He made three consecutive All-Star teams (1991-93) as a Phillie, which included a memorable at-bat against future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson at the 1993 Midsummer Classic.
The San Diego Padres selected John in the third round of the 1981 draft. At the major league level, he played for the Padres (1986-89), Phillies (1989-94) and Chicago White Sox (1995). John finished his playing career with a .300 batting average, a .397 on-base percentage, 199 doubles, 100 home runs and 592 RBI in 1,200 games.
In 2003, John was selected to the All-Vet Team, which honored the best Phillies to play each position at Veterans Stadium, and he was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2011.
John and his wife Melissa live in Naples, Fla., with their son Kyle and daughter Keira.
Ben Davis enters his 10th season in the booth after joining the Phillies broadcast team in February 2015. He previously spent four years as an in-studio baseball analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia and made occasional appearances on 94.1 WIP’s morning show.
A local product, Ben was selected by the San Diego Padres as the second overall pick in the 1995 draft out of Malvern Preparatory School and went on to have a seven-year (1998-2004) major league career with the Padres (1998-2001), Seattle Mariners (2002-04) and Chicago White Sox (2004). Ben converted to pitcher for the final three seasons (2008-10) of his professional career, spent with single-A Sarasota in the Cincinnati Reds organization and the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League.
Ben currently resides in West Chester, Pa., with his wife Megan and their four children.
Over the past four decades, Ruben Amaro Jr. has held several positions with the Phillies – general manager, assistant general manager, player, bat boy and now color analyst. Ruben joined the broadcast team in 2020 for select Phillies telecasts and had his role expanded for the 2021 season. In addition, he joined MLB Network as an on-air analyst in March 2022.
A Philadelphia native, Ruben was a batboy for the Phillies from 1980-83 when his father, Ruben Sr., a former shortstop with the club, was first base coach. He is a 1983 graduate of the William Penn Charter School, where he played both baseball and soccer. In 1987, he earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University and was a member of the NCAA championship baseball team.
After being selected by the Angels in the 11th round of the June 1987 draft, Ruben made his major league debut with the club in 1991. Following that season, he was traded to his hometown Phillies, where he spent five of his final seven big league seasons (1992-93, 96-98). His only time away was 1994-95, when he played for Cleveland. Ruben played for two league champions – the pennant-winning 1993 Phillies and the 1995 Cleveland club that captured the AL crown. In 1996, he ranked third among National League pinch-hitters with a .387 average.
At the conclusion of the 1998 season, Ruben moved into the Phillies front office as assistant general manager and held that position through 2008 under both Ed Wade and future Hall of Famer Pat Gillick. After the Phillies’ World Series win in 2008, Gillick transitioned into a new role and Ruben succeeded him as GM.
In his first year as GM, the Phillies won the NL pennant, making it to the seventh World Series in club history, and the team’s 93 wins were the most in 16 years (97 wins in 1993). Following the season, Ruben was named Executive of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association (PSWA) and the Phillies were honored as both the Team of the Year by the PSWA and Organization of the Year by Baseball America. Over a two-year span (2010-11), he constructed a team that had the best records (97-65 and 102-60, respectively) in the major leagues. Prior to 2010, the Phillies had never posted the best record over the course of a major league season.
Ruben left the Phillies toward the end of the 2015 season and spent the next three years as first base coach and outfield instructor for the Boston Red Sox (2016-17) and New York Mets (2018). He worked as a scout for the Mets in 2019.
Ruben lives in Philadelphia with his partner Lori and has two daughters, Andrea and Sophia.
